Getting married in Italy – Certified translations of CNIs, marriage certificates
Are you planning to get married in Italy and are looking for a translation company that can assist you with your documents?
Well, you have landed on the right page! At Studio Traduzioni Dott. Matthew J. Bologna & Associati you are in good hands.
Please read the following information carefully in order to avoid any problems with the paperwork you will be required to present before you can get married in Italy.
Getting married in Italy
If you are both Italian citizens residing abroad and want to get married in Italy, you must request to have your banns posted at the Italian diplomatic mission or consulate where you are registered. Once the banns have been posted, the consulate will delegate the local authorities (pursuant to Italian Civil Code 109) of the Italian town or city you have chosen to perform the wedding.
Documents you need to apply for in order to have your banns posted
To apply for your banns to be posted, you must go the consulate in person with a valid identity document (pursuant to article 51, paragraph 1, of Italian Presidential Decree 396/2000 – Istanza di pubblicazione or, in English, Bann Posting Application).
Should you be unable to go in person, you can delegate a third party to have this done for you. In this case, you must use a special “proxy” written on “plain paper” (e.g. not requiring a tax stamp). Such request must be presented together with your valid identity documents.
If you are not Italian citizens
If you are not Italian citizens and want to get married in Italy, you must (pursuant to Italian Civil Code article 116) submit a Certificato di Nulla Osta al Matrimonio(Certificate of No Impediment) and an Apostille. This Nulla Osta and its Apostille must be translated by a certified translator (traduttore giurato) before the Italian Courts or Justice of the Peace.
In the case you are citizens of a non-EU country and do not have residency in Italy, in addition to the Nulla Osta you will have to submit additional documents required by Italian article 51. This is requested so as to prove that you both meet the legal requirements, since these documents were issued abroad (a non-EU country) and are not registered in Italy or with an Italian consular authority.
Here is the list of countries which have signed the Munich Convention of 5 September 1980 and issue certificates of legal capacity to marry: Austria, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Moldavia, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. The Convention cannot currently be applied to Belgium and Greece as these, although signatories, have not ratified it. The certificates issued under this Convention are exempt from the notarisation requirement or similar formalities in the territory of each of the countries that have signed the Convention. For other countries, you will need a Nulla Osta (CNI) and to get in touch with a certified translator (Dr. Matthew J. Bologna).
In certain cases, when an impediment was found to exist (pursuant to article 52 of Italian Presidential Decree 396/2000) when you and your partner first applied to have your banns posted, you may submit a copy of the authorisation to marry subsequently issued by the court. Alternatively, you can send this later by ordinary post.
Getting married at an Italian Consulate (pursuant to article 12 of Italian legislative decree 71/2011)
Applying to get married at a Consulate
If you wish to get married at an Italian Consulate, the first thing to do is to submit your Istanza di Celebrazione del Matrimonio Consolare (Application to get married at a Consulate). Both parties will need to sign the application and either take it to the consulate in person or send it by post, fax or email. Then you will need to send a photocopy of your valid identity documents.
In certain cases, your application might be rejected (pursuant to Italian legislative decree 71/2011), for example, if the local laws do not allow marriages to be performed at a consulate or if you do not reside in the consular district. Should the consulate accept your application (as meeting the legal requirements) then you can ask for your banns to be published, or “posted”.
Posting banns
Before you can get married in Italy, your banns must be posted by a civil registrar and these will be valid for six months.
If you are personally unable to go and ask for your banns to be posted, you can delegate a third party to do so. In this case, you must use a special “proxy” written on “plain paper” (e.g. not requiring a tax stamp). This must be presented together with a photocopy of each of your valid identity documents.
In the case you are non-EU citizens and do not reside in Italy, then you must have your signature authenticated.
Applying to get married at a Consulate
Most importantly, the application for getting married in an Italian Consulate is preliminary to the request for posting banns. It must be signed by both parties and can either be taken in person to the consulate or else send it by post, fax or email. You must also attach a photocopy of your identity documents. In certain cases your application might be rejected (pursuant to Italian legislative decree 71/2011), for example, if the local laws do not allow marriages to be performed at a consulate or if you do not reside in the consular district. Should the consulate accept your application (as it meets the legal requirements) then you can ask for your banns to be published, or “posted”.
- If you are both Italian citizens and reside abroad, you must request to have your banns posted at the diplomatic mission or consulate where your marriage will be celebrated. If you and your partner live in two different consular districts, then your banns must be posted at both consulates.
- In the case one of you (either Italian or a foreign citizen) resides in in Italy and the other (Italian citizen) resides abroad, you must request to have your banns posted at the diplomatic mission or consulate where your marriage will be celebrated. The diplomatic mission will later notify the local authorities of your partner’s town or city in Italy so that the banns can be posted there. Therefore, your banns will be posted in both of your places of residence.
- If your partner resides in Italy but you, a foreign citizen, reside abroad, then you may request to have your banns posted:
– at the Italian partner’s municipality (town or city) of residence in Italy. In this case, the local town council will issue the delegated authority (pursuant to Italian Civil Code article 109) for the marriage to be celebrated at the consulate abroad; or
– at the diplomatic mission or consulate abroad, which will notify the Italian partner’s local authorities in Italy as described above.
- If you both live in Italy, you must apply to have your banns posted in the town or city where you officially reside. If each of you live in a different town or city, then your banns will be posted in your city/town of residence. The local town council in Italy will issue the delegated authority (pursuant to Italian Civil Code article 109) for the marriage to be celebrated at the diplomatic mission or consulate abroad.
Transcribing the marriage certificate
Please remember that any marriage performed abroad must be transcribed by your local town council in Italy in order for it to be valid in the Italian Republic
You must send your marriage certificate – either the original or a true copy of it – issued by the foreign civil registry office to your local consulate. The certificate must be translated by a certified translator/sworn translator (traduttore giurato) before the Italian Courts or Justice of the Peace. The consular office will send the certificate to Italy, where it will be transcribed in your local council’s civil registry office.
Alternatively, you can send the translated and legalised marriage certificate directly to your local council in Italy (see article 12, paragraph 11, of Italian Presidential Decree 396/2000).
Marriage certificates issued by countries that have signed the Vienna Convention of 8 September 1976, the convention on the issue of multilingual extracts from civil status records, are exempt from the translation and legalisation requirement. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. Please note that the Vienna Convention cannot currently be applied to Greece, which, although a signatory of the Convention, has not yet ratified it.
For further information, please feel free to contact us at any time.
Congratulations on your wedding and have a pleasant stay in Italy!